Ex-RI student spared jail for killing rabbit

(AP) NEWPORT, R.I. - A former college student in Rhode Island has been ordered to serve two months of home confinement for killing a rabbit with a hockey stick and using its body as a puck.

The Providence Journal reports that former Salve Regina University student Nicholas Coyle reached a plea agreement with prosecutors that spared him jail time. The sentence was imposed Tuesday by a Superior Court magistrate judge in Newport.

Coyle must also undergo psychological counseling,

The 20-year-old from Merrick, N.Y., could have faced up to two years in prison if convicted on the original felony charge of malicious injury to an animal. He had pleaded not guilty.

The charge was downgraded to animal cruelty, a misdemeanor.

WPRO-AM reports that Coyle also must perform 100 hours of community service.